


.soulmate

by AkaToMidori



Series: Akai Ito [2]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M, Romance, Soulmate AU, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28883964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkaToMidori/pseuds/AkaToMidori
Summary: Since Connection had given out free rings to his department merely six months before, a lot of Aiba’s colleagues had ended or started their relationship based on what their rings would tell them.
Relationships: Aiba Masaki/Sakurai Sho
Series: Akai Ito [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116662
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13
Collections: Sakuraiba Tanabata 2020-2021





	.soulmate

**Author's Note:**

> _Jan 20_  
>  “You’re not alone; you never were.”

Since Connection had given out free rings to his department merely six months before, a lot of Aiba’s colleagues had ended or started their relationship based on what their rings would tell them. 

“She wasn’t the one,” his colleague Ishihara was telling him. “I borrowed Kamenashi’s ring and I asked her to wear it while I was wearing mine, and nothing happened.” She sniffed. “So I had to break up with her.” 

Aiba felt somewhat troubled to hear that. 

“Weren’t you engaged?” Jun, who was standing next to him, asked, voicing his thoughts. 

Ishihara glared at him. “I couldn’t stay with her when I knew she wasn’t my soulmate.” She sighed. “I want what they have,” she said, pointing at two of their colleagues in the distance, who had found out they were soulmates shortly after they were given the rings. “But what if I never find the one person I’m supposed to be with?” 

Aiba took a deep breath, feeling some anxiety build up in his chest. For six months, he had resisted the temptation to wear the ring because he was afraid to find out that Sho wasn’t his soulmate. He loved him a lot, but what Ishihara said really resonated with him. What if Sho wasn’t the one he was supposed to be? What if there was someone else who was better for him? Could he really live his life not knowing? 

“I’m sure you’ll find her,” Jun was saying to their colleague. “Maybe even tonight.” 

“Why tonight?” Aiba interjected. 

Jun turned to face him. “The launch party is tonight, and for the occasion they’re giving a ring to the rest of the departments in the company, and offering exclusive access to some members of high society. More people than ever are going to be wearing it tonight,” he explained, before turning to Ishihara again. “Maybe you’ll find out that your soulmate is a rich heiress or something.” 

She laughed. “That would be nice.” 

Aiba wasn’t listening anymore. If the whole company was wearing the ring tonight… It was a long shot, but what if his soulmate was standing among them? He looked back at Sho’s desk, where he was deep in conversation with one of his juniors. Maybe he could just wear the ring tonight, just to see what would happen. Certainly, the probability of his soulmate to be wearing it as well was so small that he didn’t need to worry. 

_‘Just once,’_ he thought. _‘I will make sure, and then I’ll move on.’_

Aiba got out of the restroom feeling nervous. 

The party had started two hours ago, and everywhere he looked, people were wearing the rings. At the start of the evening, the CEO of the company, Ariyoshi, had asked everyone who wanted to wear it to do so, and to start looking for their soulmate. 

He had played with the ring in his pocket for a while, smiling nervously at Sho whenever he looked at him or tried to make conversation. He waited till his boyfriend went to chat with his superiors to excuse himself and run to the restroom, where he put on the ring. 

Now that he was back in the room with everyone else, his left hand carefully hidden in his pocket so nobody could see it, especially his friends or his boyfriend, he wasn’t that sure this was a good idea. 

He was certain nothing was going to happen that night, that his ring wasn’t going to activate. He was sure Sho was the right person for him, after all, and if it was indeed as he thought, he would probably never find out who his soulmate was because his boyfriend had been resolute that he never wanted to wear that device. 

“Even if it told me you’re not my soulmate, I wouldn’t care,” Sho had told him a few months earlier while they were cuddling in bed the day he had moved in into his apartment. Aiba had smiled at him then, and they had shared a deep kiss. 

Remembering that was making him feel so guilty now. There Sho was, trusting their bond more than anything else in the world, and Aiba was willing to throw it all to the wind because of… what? Curiosity? Fear? He didn’t even know.

“This is so boring.” 

Aiba almost jumped when he heard his Nino’s voice so close to his ear. 

His friend looked at him with a bored expression on his face. “How much longer do we have to be here, you think?” 

Aiba chuckled. “At least until the cake, I guess.” 

Nino groaned. “I’m missing a _pazudora_ tournament to be here.” 

“This is work,” Jun interjected, stopping in front of them with Ohno in tow. “Anyway, I thought you were supposed to be an adult.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Only children play with games,” Jun said, with disgust. 

Ohno looked at Aiba knowingly and they both chuckled, seeing their two friends argue. 

“I think they should wear the rings together,” Ohno whispered to him. “See if the saying ‘opposites attract’ is true.”

Aiba nodded and opened his mouth to say something, when he felt something weird. 

He turned around quickly to pull his left hand out of his pocket, and when he did, he almost screamed. The ring was warm and red as fire. That could only mean one thing. 

“My soulmate…” he whispered. But as soon as he did that, the ring turned silver and cold again. “What?” 

“What did you say?” Ohno asked. 

Aiba slipped the ring off his finger quickly, and put it in his pocket. “Nothing. I’m sorry Oh-chan, I need to go,” he said, feeling his head spin. 

“Go where? Are you okay?” his friend asked, concerned. 

“Yes,” he lied. “I just need to find Sho-chan.” 

And with those words he ran away to look for his boyfriend.

Aiba found him sitting on a bench outside the venue’s garden. 

Sho was looking up at the moon in silence, as if he was thinking about something. Aiba stopped, enchanted by the peaceful image in front of his eyes. He loved watching Sho when he didn’t know he was looking at him. It was so rare for Aiba to just be able to stare at him without Sho turning around and searching for his gaze too, so he savored that moment for a bit before speaking out. 

“Sho-chan?” Aiba’s voice was uncertain. 

Sho turned to look at him. He was smiling, but Aiba could see that he looked worried. He stepped closer to him, wondering what had happened. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Sho didn’t reply immediately. Maybe he was considering whether to lie or tell the truth, he thought.

“It’s nothing, it’s silly,” he eventually said. 

“It doesn’t look like nothing.” Aiba sat down next to him on the bench. “Come on. Tell me.”

Sho looked at him briefly, biting his lower lip. “Now that we’re releasing this thing to the public, I’m afraid that you’re going to find your soulmate, and I’m going to end up alone,” he said in one breath. 

Aiba felt his heart clench at those words. If Sho knew that Aiba had been wearing the ring, and that it had become red that very same night, just a few minutes earlier… 

But it didn’t matter, he told himself. 

When he saw the red light on his finger, that’s when he understood the truth. 

“Hey.” He took his left hand and kissed it. “You’re not alone; you never were. And you never will,” he told him firmly. “I don’t care about a ring telling me who to love. Soulmate or not, I want you, Sho-chan.” He stared into his eyes, trying to make him see that he was sincere. “I _pick_ you. Okay?”

Sho released the breath he was holding as his tension eased. “Yeah,” he said, pulling him closer to take him in his arms. “Yeah, Masaki,” he whispered in his hair. “You know I pick you too. Always.” 

They stayed there for a while, hugging in the quiet of the garden under the moonlight. Aiba felt Sho’s heartbeat slow down to a calm pace, and that made him relax in his arms even more. He didn’t know why he thought a stupid ring could dictate his life. He would never find anyone he could love as much as he loved Sho. 

“Let’s go home?” Sho said, leaving a kiss in his hair. 

Aiba pulled away and took his hands. Getting closer, he left a chaste kiss on his lips, savoring the moment. When they pulled apart, he smiled sweetly. 

“Let’s go home.”


End file.
